On Saturday, the Rusty Pipes held their ninth annual show in DCC 308. The lights dimmed and the talking crowd hushed as the spot lights focused on the microphones in front of the room. Then, streaming down the center stairs were the 15 members of the Rusty Pipes, in casual attire of jeans and Rusty Pipes t-shirts. They immediately lined up and Christian Dommell ’07 led them in “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” The song, made popular by Green Day, was sang somberly, with piercing looks and choreographed moves. The Pipes ended the song and left the stage with the audience lingering.
The guest groups then followed. The SUNY Albany Earthtones opened first. This all-male a cappella group came onto the stage with t-shirts and jeans. They gave off an aura of ease and calmness. In the program, the songs that they were supposed to perform, including “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman” by Britney Spears and “She Thinks My Tractor’s Sexy” by Kenny Chesney, truly had the crowd wondering what this group was about. However, in the program there was a clause that all songs are subject to change and the members of the Earthtones cleared up any misconceptions, stating they didn’t know how those songs got into the program. They then went on to sing five pieces, all with different soloists. Their sound was fresh and full of energy, leaving the crowd tapping their feet and bobbing their heads along to the beat. The last song they sang, “Two Princes” (originally put out by the Spin Doctors) was a crowd favorite, where the group danced and let loose.
This show, unlike the fall Pipe-a-Thon, did not have a theme or videos. However, in between the guest groups, the Pipes did have a slide show of pictures with fun times from their winter tour, and from the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Northeast Quarterfinals. They placed second overall in those quarterfinals, which earned them a spot in the top eight groups of the northeast and they proceeded to the semifinal held in March at Fordham University.
The second guest group was Brandeis’ all-female a cappella group, Up the Octave. The Waltham, Mass., group opened up with a girl medley, and maintained their light and peaceful sound in all the songs they performed. Dressed in pink and black, the group had some choreographed moves to their songs, and ended with a classic by Annie Lennox, “Broken Glass.”
After a brief intermission, the time that the audience had been waiting for was finally here. The lights dimmed again and the Rusty Pipes, now dressed up in red and black outfits, took center stage. They opened right away with the eerie yet enticing song, “A Charming Spell,” soloed by Michele Viani ’09. Next the Pipes wowed the audience with a new song, “Lullaby,” originally done by Billy Joel. This piece was different from the rest because all the Pipes sang the words with beautiful harmony and the deep bass voices truly added to the song; it was truly a crowd favorite.
With the next songs, “Solitary Shell” and “Cool,” the set list of songs became gradually more upbeat. The Pipes appeared to be having fun, judging by the looks and smiles they were exchanging during the songs.
The final three songs sung were those the Pipes performed at the semifinals. First they sang “Ironic,” in which Amy Latten ’09 came out strong and had the crowd amazed. Toward the end of the song, the whole audience was clapping along with the beat. Next, Johanna Carroll ’09 and Shawn Jiles ’09 truly stunned everyone in the audience with their stunning rendition of “If I Ain’t Got You,” originally sung by Alicia Keys and Usher. Their duet, paired with the accompaniment of the other Pipes and their choreographed dance moves, led the crowd to jump out of their seats with approval and awe at the end of the song; this was perhaps the crowd’s favorite song of the night.
Before the Rusty Pipes sang their last song, business manager Kristen Welch ’06 announced that it would be seniors Jenna Day’s and Robare Pruyn-Bush’s last show. Both seniors received a bouquet with a plunger, which adequately reflected their group name, the Rusty Pipes. After both members were thanked for their years of support and applauded, Robare sang his last song, “Helena,” where, as always, he gave everything he had, and his energy infected the audience. The crowd again rose to their feet at the end of the song—and at the end of the show—in appreciation.
The Pipes bowed, but audience members called for one more song—for an encore, for more Pipes. They obliged and, in tradition, sang “Pride,” and invited their alumni present to come up and join them. Led by Day, both new and old members sang their staple song with high energy, dancing and even jumping at times. The energy, talent and quality of the ninth annual Pipes show was anything but Rusty. If anything, it was amazing.
